Customer Reviews

Rocket Man: Robert H. Goddard and the Birth of the Space Age

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I knew about Robert Hutchings Goddard at a very early age , and read everything I could find on his work. I happened on "Rocket Development" (published by Goddard's wife after his death)in a bargain book bin in 1956 ; after reading it from cover to cover several times , Goddard became one of my personal icons. I was sufficiently impressed by his accomplishments at the time to enroll as an aeronautical and aerospace engineering major as a freshman a year later.

The present work , "Rocket Man" , was very disappointing to me in several ways. Although the author has done some homework , he missed the mark by failing to include a more technical slant to the volume. He also tended to focus on Goddard's foibles and weaknesses , rather than the formidable accomplishments of his life's work. A more technical description of the problems facing this remarkable pioneer could only increase one's admiration for this solitary genius.

A key point that may have eluded many of Goddard's biographers , admirers , and detractors is that the man was a physicist and not an engineer. It was pointed out that Goddard the man did not stick with the task very well and was subject to becoming diverted from what should have been his true focus. He also spent much of his time (in my humble opinion) more or less reinventing things , whereas had he employed a mechanical engineer to Provide some help , his accomplishments would have probably come closer to some of his dreams.

As an overview of the book, author Cleary does give much credit to Harry Guggenheim , Charles A. Lindbergh Jr , Charles Greely Abbot and the Smithsonian , all of whom shared credit for support of Goddard and his research program. Although the author seemingly has a favorable attitude towards his subject , the book lacks warmth -- tends to be a bit too dry for my taste.

A decent work , but could have been a lot more interesting had some of the text and illustrations from "Rocket Development" , and possibly more photos from Goddard's archives been included. Only 3 stars from this reviewer ; recommended , but only in conjunction with a copy of "Rocket Development" in hand.

I really enjoyed this book, and I don't like technical stuff. Goddard's just one of those fascinating geniuses, like the guy in A Beautiful Mind. (Hmmm . . . maybe Jennifer Connelly can play Mrs. Goddard in the movie. I'm there!) All I knew about him was that he was the father of rocketry, but this was a real eye-opener. He was so far ahead of his time that the New York Times (and just about everyone else) ridiculed him in 1920 for his "loony ideas"--he said rockets could reach the moon--though they issued a formal apology in 1969 (25 years after Goddard died), when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Talk about ironic. Bottom line, it's an inspiring story about a sickly kid who would climb a tree in his backyard to gaze at the stars and dream about reaching them--and grew up to do some thing about it. Man, did he--he pretty much invented rocketry and the basics of the US space program. And of course, he was the inspiration for generations of "rocket boys." I was one of them . . . if you know who Estes Industries is, you'll know exactly what I mean!

Rocket Man, by David A. Clary, is an excellent review of the life of Robert H Goddard. Clary provides new insights into the personality and work ethic of this enigmatic genius. He correctly points out that Goddard's contributions to rocketry have taken on legendary proportions and have been manipulated over the years by several driving forces. Not the least of these forces is that, following the launch of the first artificial earth satellite, Sputnik I (launched by the Soviet Union in 1957) Americans wanted to be reassured that America had a viable pioneer in the field of rocketry.

The pre-eminence of the Russian space program and the German rocket pioneer, Werner von Braun (architect of the Saturn V rocket that took man to the moon) tended to overshadow virtually all other experimenters who contributed to the development of rocketry in the 20th century.

While Clary's book is a scholarly effort, with significant research and an impressive bibliography, he tends to emphasize (chapter after chapter) that Goddard himself was dominated by the desire to ensure that he would be remembered as the father, not only of rocketry, but all, or many of, the innovations necessary to make rocketry possible.

Clary also notes that Goddard was not above making efforts to feather his nest to ensure financial security and intimates on several occasions, possible improprieties in his conduct. This emphasis tends to detract from the credibility of the book because of his constant referrals to it.

While these aspects of Goddard may be true, it is necessary for us to keep into focus that this man was not simply a theorist as previous notables were, but a practical experimenter who was the first to demonstrate that the liquid fuel rocket was not only possible, but a viable means of achieving extreme altitudes. If there is any lapse in the book's content, it may be that several of the innovations that Goddard pioneered (such as regenerative cooling of the rocket engine, a significant step in achieving the ability to burn propellants at high temperatures in a combustion chamber) were not pursued.

It is interesting to note the parallels between the Wright brothers and Goddard when it came to marketing their invention. Both seem to lose track of the engineering aspects of their work and became mired in the marketing aspects, for which neither were prepared. As a result, each was overshadowed by technology advances from other inventors.

Clary's book is certainly a positive addition to the library of anyone interested in the history of the space age but it must be read with the caveats noted.

Too often, the great inventors of history get lost in a cloud of myth which hides their essential humanity. Such is the case with Robert Goddard, the "father" of modern rocketry. He was a man of great vision and persistence, who substantially contributed to the development of rocket technology. After his death, his widow Esther and powerful patrons Charles Lindbergh and Harry Guggenheim fostered the image of Goddard as a solitary genius who single-handedly created the liquid fueled rocket. But he had his flaws. Greatly concerned with establishing the priority of his work, possessive of his field of research, and with a tendency to lose focus and dilute his effort, he nonetheless made more theoretical and experimental contributions to the development of rocketry than anyone else of the early twentieth century. Author Clary does a wonderful job of stripping away the myth and letting us discover the man who, as much as any individual, made spaceflight possible.

Clary's book also brings out two of the essential features of technological development. It is rare that an invention is created in isolation. In the first half of the twentieth century, the idea of spaceflight was in the air. Rocketry clubs were popping up in Germany and the United States. The British Interplanetary Society was formed. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in the Soviet Union, Hermann Oberth in Germany, and Robert Esnault-Pelterie in France, among others, were laying the foundations of rocketry. Had Goddard not lived, the development of the liquid fueled rocket would have occured nonetheless, and within the same time frame.

The other point is that in such a complex task as the development of the rocket, there are limits to what one person, no matter how inspired or creative, can do. Indeed, any difficult research project is greatly enhanced by the combined efforts of many bright minds. Anyone who has had the pleasure of a successful scientific collaboration can affirm how much more productive are two minds than one. Working in isolation, it is easy to follow unproductive paths or to become the victim of erroneous thinking. With another person to challenge assumptions and with whom to argue critically, great progress can be made. After reading Clary's book, one can't help but wonder how much more Goddard could have achieved had he been less concerned with priority and been willing to work with others as peers. The sad part of his story is that at the end of his life, he was no longer in the van of rocket development. Von Braun in Germany, Malina and von Karman at GALCIT, were forging ahead, while Goddard's work was becoming a backwater.

Clary writes with clarity and insight, bringing the essential Goddard to light. The portrait that emerges is sympathetic, but not at all hagiographic. Clary's discussions of Goddard's flaws provide illumination, not condemnation. This book is neither a history of Goddard's technical contributions, nor a detailed discussion of his rockets. However, his contributions to rocketry are presented in a historical context, making it clear that the significance of his work was sufficient to have made his reputation, without the need for the mythologizing by his supporters after his death. Other than a couple of minor errors in the text (Clark Millikan was Robert Millikan's son, not his brother; Jimmy Doolittle was not a "World War I flying ace"), this book reflects careful, in depth research.

I picked up Rocket Man because of its connection with Charles Lindbergh, a favorite subject of mine. And this book definitely makes me want to read more about the early days of rockets and science. Those old characters were amazing. Robert Goddard was the secretive, solitary genius who inspired countless "Rocket Boys," and if you've seen that movie or read that book you know what I mean.

Inspired by Jules Verne, as a boy Goddard would climb a tree in his backyard and stay up there for hours looking up at the stars. When he became the first person to publish a basic theory claiming rocket propulsion and flight was possible, he was ridiculed by the press (even the New York Times!) Goddard went on to further triumphs (supported by Lindbergh), but he became more and more secretive after that. When he died in 1945 he was virtually unknown.

Clary's book is a vivid, exciting look at the early days of rocketry and the space race. But mostly it's the great story of a brilliant, driven visionary--and his determined wife--who changed our world forever. We've been shooting people into space for about forty years now, all because of him. Definitely a great read.

This book contains no illustrations and little discussion to explain what Goddard invented and how those inventions worked; so it's not clear what Goddard did or why he should be famous. Instead, author Clary's book is a tedious account of Goddard's squabbles over priority of invention, of his constant pursuit of funds for his research, and of his widow's efforts to secure his patents and to promote his place in history. Dull and plodding.

This book was apparently intended merely as a corrective to the standard biography of Goddard; namely, Lehman's "This High Man." If you want to understand Goddard's work on rockets, look elsewhere.

This biography is heightened by the great number of illustrations and understandable descriptions of what Goddard accomplished and what it means. It has received high praise from Booklist, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, the Baltimore Sun, and many others around the country. I dont know what the agenda of the preceding comment was, but it ought to be balanced. No less than Arthur C. Clarke says it is "a long overdue tribute to one of the greatest engineers..."

Clary's Rocket Man is a fine biography of Robert Goddard. The work is eminently readable. Clary does a fine job of recounting the technical challenges that Goddard faced yet never lets the technology overwhelm the biography. The key in a biography is to get to the underlying person and Clary does this very well.

Goddard sits on the transition between the age of the individual inventor and "big science". In the era of "big science" projects may be lead by a person of singular genius, but the scale and scope is too big for person working alone to achieve mastery. Thus, while Goddard achieved first success with most aspects of liquid fueled rocketry, his rockets remained small while Germany pushed ahead to the larger V-2. Clary touches on this issue but does not make it explicit.

Similarly, in weapons development and post-war sounding rockets the U.S. developed solid fuel rockets. Clary writes of Goddard turning away from solid fuel, but a Cal Tech team coming back to it. More development of the changes that made solid fuel viable in the '40s or why liquid fuel was desirable for later rockets would have been welcome.

These concerns are minor. Enjoy Clary's work and insight into this pioneer of rocketry.

I really enjoyed this book, and I don't like technical stuff. Goddard's just one of those fascinating geniuses, like the guy in A Beautiful Mind. (Hmmm . . . maybe Jennifer Connelly can play Mrs. Goddard in the movie. I'm there!) All I knew about him was that he was the father of rocketry, but this was a real eye-opener. He was so far ahead of his time that the New York Times (and just about everyone else) ridiculed him in 1920 for his "loony ideas"--he said rockets could reach the moon--though they issued a formal apology in 1969 (25 years after Goddard died), when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Talk about ironic. Bottom line, it's an inspiring story about a sickly kid who would climb a tree in his backyard to gaze at the stars and dream about reaching them--and grew up to do some thing about it. Man, did he--he pretty much invented rocketry and the basics of the US space program. And of course, he was the inspiration for generations of "rocket boys." I was one of them . . . if you know who Estes Industries is, you'll know exactly what I mean!

This is a thought-provoking book about a genius who developed the first working rocket on Earth. Dr. Robert Goddard was a mystery man; he was a loner but had close ties with Charles Lindbergh, Harry Guggenheim, and Werner von Braun. He is credited with the raw invention of modern rocketry; although the credit may have been stolen from him with the utilization of the crude but warworthy V-2 rockets developed by the Germans.
The problem with Goddard is that he wanted all the patents to belong to him and all the credit go to him, but when it came to sharing his wealth of knowledge, he became secretive.
It outraged many people, including his own government.
Goddard wanted to protect his inventions, but that cost him the credit and honor that he coveted so much during the years he lived. It was only after his death that his beloved wife, Esther secured his spot in history.
Charles Lindbergh and Harry Guggenhiem threw in their consideable support in promoting Goddard's inventions post-humously as well, and that is why he is not just a foot note in history today.
Dr Goddard demonstrated impressive technical skill, insight and integrity despite financial contraints and public skeptism.
He was forced to deal with failure over and over and over. Years of his life was spent in pursuit of incorrect thinking, that modern rocketry would go in only one direction.
In the end, he proved that he had what it takes to launch a payload into extreme altitudes.
He was a pioneer in thinking that man would one day land on the moon - the mere mention of this idea would bring a room to racious laughter - people were incredulous of his brilliance in those days. His wife believed in him, and this was his one strongest ally in his own little islolated world of discovery.
I found it odd and amusing that he lived many years in Roswell, New Mexico. This was before the Rosewell Alien crash in 1948, but I wonder to this day if there was any connection, and what Goddard's reaction to the legendary alien crash would have been.
It would have been interesting to know whether or not Goddard believed in extraterrestials. This is not discussed in this fine book, but author, David Clary did a superb job in bringing back to life this mysterious scientist.
There were bright points of Robert Goddard's life, and there were darker shades also, the man was human - after all.
He dared to dream bigger than most scientists of his time.....he is often compared to Hermann Oberth and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky - other physicists that theorized about space travel.
But our man, Robert Goddard was the FIRST to actually build rockets and test them and work on them until some degree of continuity was achieved.
And for this tireless and thankless effort, Goddard is reviered today as the first ROCKET MAN of the ages.
I enjoyed this book greatly - I actually had begun reading another book about a famous astronaught, but when I perused this book, it took command of my undivided attention.
There is alot to know about these early men; who risked social stigma to apply what they theorized to actual science.
We can credit Goddard with the entire US Space program; he was on the ground floor.
Maybe Sputnik could send his estate a belated thank you card, because at the time, the only person actively developing these great flying machines was a lonely bald scientist toiling away in the hot desert in remote sections of New Mexico.
Have a read -- this book will lift your imaginations to new heights and I guarantee, you will learn much from this great man.
It is a really interesting book and easy to understand.